Coast Guard repatriates 29 Cuban migrants

The Coast Guard interdicted the 29 Cuban migrants during three separate cases since May 2.

At 12:25 p.m. May 5, a good Samaritan spotted five male Cuban migrants aboard a rustica about 15 miles south of Key West, Fla., and contacted the Coast Guard. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne responded and interdicted the migrants without incident. Three of those migrants were transferred to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for further processing.

Around midnight May 4, an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew spotted a 27-foot pleasure craft being towed by a good Samaritan with 26 Cuban migrants and three suspected smugglers aboard. The migrants consisted of 18 men, six women, three children and two infants aboard the vessel, which was just outside of Cuban territorial seas. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke arrived on scene and safely transferred all 29 people aboard. They were later transferred to the cutter Key Biscayne. The three suspected smugglers were transferred to Customs and Border Protection officials in Miami. One man was transferred to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for further processing. One of the infants–a 5-month-old boy–was transferred ashore along with his mother and father to Miami Children’s Hospital for medical attention. He was reportedly in stable condition.

At 11 a.m. May 2, the cutter Key Biscayne crew spotted five male Cuban migrants aboard a rustica about five miles south of Key West. The migrants were interdicted without incident.